These were the top 3 definitions, as you can see, a community can look different depending on your vantage point. Consider your community, is it a neighborhood, sports team, church, school, work? The list could go on and on.

Recently my church moved into a new community. We have been there a few months and are not familiar with the neighborhood. This move has me pondering how to engage with those around us? I find myself going back to a book we read as a staff at work last year. This little book called The Art of Neighboring really had some practical insights and I highly recommend it. Why study a book on neighbors? Shouldn’t we love our neighbor as ourselves?

Ask yourself, how often do you intentionally reach out to your actual neighbors? Do you care about what goes on in your neighbors’ lives? Most of us don’t even know our neighbors anymore. So maybe we need this book more than we realize. We come home, through the garage, close the door, retire to our dens or backyard without even seeing those around us. No kind words or even happy waves happen. We are in and we are out.

I believe so many times we alienate ourselves from our neighbors because they don’t look, act, or talk like we do. We are afraid to step out and introduce ourselves or afraid to make a social faux pas because we don’t know the person. But how can you get to know someone unless you step out on faith?

When we were stationed overseas, no matter the country we visited, I always tried to learn, at the very least, how to say “please” and “thank you.” Americans are notorious for expecting you to speak English no matter what, but the ones who at least try to speak the language are blessed with helpful people and forgiveness for butchering their language. My point is, most people are more forgiving if they know you are trying.

I am a strong believer in the power of diversity. As a child, I colored with every crayon in the box. Too often in this world, we tend to gravitate toward sameness, what we know and where we are comfortable. There is a wealth of richness and beauty in relationships with people who are not the same as you. You don’t have to agree with someone to care about them. Genuine, loving, long-term relationships with our neighbors requires us to be present, get to know someone by listening to their story. Stories bring us together and allow us to relate on a level we might miss if we don’t have time to listen.

Too often we feel we need to fix people’s problems or tell them what they should do. Most of the time, people just want to be heard, to feel like someone really cares and is there if they need to share.

Matthew 5:43-45

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighborand hate your enemy.’But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;

So my thought for the day is…What is “community” to you? How do you live that out? How do you connect with those around you? What can you do differently to truly be a good neighbor?

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2 thoughts on “What is Community to You?”

Harrold Preyer

Charmin, I think that you are very much on target with your comments and thought processes in your post on community. I have been counseling for most of my adult life (over 35 years) and have found that people often use their experiences and environment to determine what is proper or normal. Using these guidelines, the individual’s reality is anchored in place and all else is suppect, labelled or outright rejected. Being neighborly and loving the same is exhausting and many choose not to value the cost to self, sufficient enough to invest in this needed activity to make the local or larger community a desirable place to co-inhabit with others of different values and belief systems. Thanks for addressing the subject. Your evaluations (thoughts) are in line with some of my earlier studies when I was working on my initial degree dealing with special emphasis in social-psychology.

Charmin, I think that you are very much on target with your comments and thought processes in your post on community. I have been counseling for most of my adult life (over 35 years) and have found that people often use their experiences and environment to determine what is proper or normal. Using these guidelines, the individual’s reality is anchored in place and all else is suspect, labeled or outright rejected. Being neighborly and loving the same is exhausting and many choose not to value the cost to self, sufficient enough to invest in this needed activity to make the local or larger community a desirable place to co-inhabit with others of different values and belief systems. Thanks for addressing the subject. Your evaluations (thoughts) are in line with some of my earlier studies when I was working on my initial degree dealing with special emphasis in social-psychology.